Quique Sanchez Flores says the FA Cup is not the best for a club like Watford due to the number of wins needed to clinch the trophy.

Watford are set to play Newcastle United in the third round of the competition on Saturday in what will be Sanchez s first taste of the FA Cup.

The Spaniard has relative success in cup competitions, guiding Atletico Madrid to the final of the 2009-10 Copa del Rey.

Premier League and Championship clubs must win six games to lift the FA Cup, and the Watford manager says an extended run in the tournament may cost his side. 

The FA Cup is more historic than the Copa del Rey in Spain because that has only been running since 1978, he said.

Everyone wants to go to Wembley. We are able to win any single match at this mo…

Thomas Muller insists Germany are not scared of France and dismissed their five-goal haul in the quarter-finals as being partly due to poor Iceland defending.

The world champions take on the Euro 2016 hosts at the semi-final stage in Marseille on Thursday with France looking to demonstrate again the firepower which saw them beat the tournament surprise package 5-2 at the weekend.

And while Muller – who has yet to score at the Euros – has respect for France, and their offensive players in particular, he is confident Joachim Low s men can find a way to combat them.

We are not scared of them. We ve seen the videos and we know that France have got many good individuals, he said.

The goals they ve scored against Iceland were individually very nic…

Verdict: Saudi Arabia +1.5 Asian handicap

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Russia were supposed to have an easy job in the opening fixture of the 2018 World Cup against Saudi Arabia, but they could face a difficult task after a series of disappointing performances. The Green Falcons will be hoping the nerves will get to their opponents, giving them a chance to record a positive result at Stadion Luzhniki.

Russia

Even though they had almost four years to prepare for the World Cup on home soil the 2018 tournament seems to come at a bad time for Russia. Many believe that this is one of the country’s weakest squads in recent history, with many players past their prime and others yet to realise their full potential. It is perfectly clear that head coach Stanislav C…

Marek Hamsik is inching closer to matching Diego Maradona s all-time record. Image via: theScore

A century (plus one) goals in just under ten seasons with his club, Napoli. It is a stat any striker worth his salt would scoff at. But for a midfielder, it is indeed a respectable achievement. Now imagine that same midfielder were 29 years old, had played a vital role in helping his country qualify for their first ever World Cup and European championship. And despite the interest from numerous other clubs around Europe following his performance in France this past summer, he opted to sign a new four-year deal tying him with the club until 2020.

An unconditional loyalty no matter what

Mind you, Marek Hamsik would have made significantly more money elsewhere. And certainly, …

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca knows there are plenty of improvements for his team to make after the Blues were thrashed 4-1 by Celtic.

Fresh from beating Manchester City, Celtic rounded off their tour of the United States in sensational style on Saturday.

Matt O Riley, Kyogo Furuhashi, Luis Palma and Mikey Johnston put the Bhoys 4-0 up before Christopher Nkunku grabbed a consolation from the penalty spot.

And Maresca, whose team had 10 shots on target and also hit the woodwork twice, conceded there is work to do.

Off the ball we need to improve things, Maresca said.

You can see sometimes we confuse when we need to play short and when we need to play a little bit longer but that is part of the process.

We maintained a high line but when the …

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Liverpool will be welcoming West Ham to Anfield on Wednesday evening as the extremely condensed Premier League schedule goes on, leading, of course, up to the World Cup which starts next month.

The meetings between these two sides have mostly been very interesting in the last couple of years, despite the difference in their respective overall successes, not to mention trophy hauls. But the current point of the season finds them both in unwanted situations.

Liverpool

Having ran Premier League champions Manchester City close last time, to within a point eventually and ending the 2021/22 as runners-up, Liverpool were widely expected to mount a similar challenge again this term. However, a couple of early shocks and an injury crisi…

Crystal Palace are concerned that Manchester City will come for Eberechi Eze after deciding to sell Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window, according to . Argentina international forward Alvarez is on his way to La Liga club Atletico, and that Palace are fearful that Premier League champions City will try to sign Eze.

Eze can operate as an attacking midfielder or as a winger and is one of the best players in his position in the Premier League. The England international has been superb for the Eagles in recent years and was part of the Three Lions’ squad at the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany.

The winger has made 112 appearances in the Premier League so far in his career. Eze has scored 26 goals and given 15 assists in those games. The star sc…

Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario has revealed he will fulfil a promise to cycle 500km following Real Valladolid s promotion to LaLiga.

The Pucelanos will be playing in the Spanish top-flight next season after finishing second in the Segunda Division.

Ronaldo, who became the club s majority shareholder in 2018, will now make the pilgrimage route from Valladolid to Santiago de Compostela, the culmination of the Camino de Santiago.

To celebrate Valladolid s automatic promotion, I made a promise a long time ago, even when we were relegated [in 2021], Ronaldo stated on Twitch.

I promised that if we came back [to LaLiga], I would do the Camino de Santiago. I will do it by bike as I can t run.

My wife [Celine] and I will leave from Valladolid on Sunday a…

Tottenham have completed the signing of Brazil international forward Richarlison from Everton.

The deal is rumoured to be worth an initial £50million, while add-ons could take the full figure to £60m.

Richarlison has signed a five-year contract at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and has become Spurs fourth signing ahead of the new season after Fraser Forster, Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma.

If the deal does eventually reach the full £60m, it would make Richarlison the club s record signing.

The 25-year-old joined Everton from Watford in 2018 and had been a key figure at the club ever since that £50m move.

He played a vital role in helping Everton avoid relegation from the Premier League last season, scoring six of his 10 top-flight goals in the club…

According to Mundo Deportivo, Munir El Haddadi has a series of clubs that are interested in signing him – including Roma, Alaves, Napoli, Celta Vigo, Real Betis, Marseille, Schalke and West Ham United.  The 23 year old may not be that well known to many neutral fans out there, especially given just how talented Barca’s attacking force is, but he’s still a notable presence in the squad.

He first joined the Spanish champions at the youth level way back in 2011 and over the course of the last seven years, he’s had varying degrees of success. During a recent loan spell with Alaves he was able to have some joy, but beyond that, many fans don’t find it all too surprising that he’s looking for somewhere new.

The Spanish international is still young and has time to…